Search results for "RETENTION"
showing 10 items of 347 documents
The crucial interactions between climate and soil
2022
Since the birth of soil science, climate has been recognized as a soil-forming factor, along with parent rock, time, topography, and organisms (from which humans were later kept distinct), often prevalent on the other factors on the very long term. But the climate is in turns affected by soils and their management. This paper describes the interrelationships between climate – and its current change – and soil, focusing on each single factor of its formation. Parent material governs, primarily through the particle size distribution, the capacity of soil to retain water and organic matter, which are two main soil-related drivers of the climate. Time is the only unmanageable soil-forming facto…
Statistical analysis of latency outcomes in behavioral experiments
2011
In experimental designs of animal models, memory is often assessed by the time for a performance measure to occur (latency). Depending on the cognitive test, this may be the time it takes an animal to escape to a hidden platform (water maze), an escape tunnel (Barnes maze) or to enter a dark component (passive avoidance test). Latency outcomes are usually statistically analyzed using ANOVAs. Besides strong distributional assumptions, ANOVA cannot properly deal with animals not showing the performance measure within the trial time, potentially causing biased and misleading results. We propose an alternative approach for statistical analyses of latency outcomes. These analyses have less distr…
Do distractors interfere with memory for study pairs in associative recognition?
2006
In an associative recognition task, distractors generally consist of a rearrangement of the items composing the study pairs. This makes it possible that processing the distractors generates retroactive interference on memory for the study pairs. In Experiment 1, we explored this possibility in a yes/no recognition test concerning previously learned arbitrary associations between visual symbols and auditory syllables. Rearranged pairs had a deleterious impact on the accuracy and the speed of responses to related correct pairs. This effect did not vary as a function of the number of training blocks, and furthermore, in Experiment 2, the same effect was observed for overlearned small multiplic…
Gas chromatography of homologous esters
1984
Abstract The gas chromatographic retention behaviour of the propanoyl and monochloropropanoyl esters of saturated C3C5 branched-chain and unsaturated C3C6 alcohols on SE-30 and OV-351 capillary columns at several temperatures is reported. Retention index increments at 80 and 120°C show the effect of branching in the alkyl chain and also the effect of unsaturation and of its position in the chain with chlorination at the two possible positions in the acyl chain. The various incremental effects are discussed and compared with the behaviour of the corresponding n-alkyl esters.
Shear strength of a compacted scaly clay in variable saturation conditions
2015
Scaly clays are stiff and highly fissured clays often used as construction materials. This paper presents the results of triaxial compression tests carried out on saturated and unsaturated samples of a compacted scaly clay. Complementary investigation on the microstructural features and their evolution with the amount of water stored into the material are also presented in order to shed light on the evolution of the micro- and macroporosity with suction. The water retention behaviour of the compacted scaly clay is also addressed. The results from the controlled suction triaxial tests are used to discuss the applicability of a single-shear strength criterion to compacted double-structured cl…
A Comparative Study of Soil Suction Measurement Using Two Different High-Range Psychrometers
2007
An extensive experimental study was performed to compare the measurement capabilities within different ranges of two total suction measurement equipment: SMI transistor psychrometers and a chilled-mirror dew-point psychrometer (WP4 Dewpoint PotentiaMeter). The equipment were used in a systematic way to determine the relative humidity of the environment surrounding different compacted clayey soils along drying paths and covering a wide total suction range (0.1 to 70 MPa). The equipment description and the calibration protocols followed are presented, as well as suggestions regarding the improvement of their performance. The water retention curves of two different compacted clayey soils are p…
Volumetric Behaviour of Lime Treated High Plasticity Clay Subjected to Suction Controlled Drying and Wetting Cycles
2017
The paper presents some experimental results collected on samples recovered from an experimental embankment obtained by compacting a lime-treated clay. Samples were collected soon after the in situ compaction and they were cured in controlled environmental conditions for at least 18 months. Mercury intrusion porosimetry tests (MIP) were carried out on freeze-dried specimens to characterize the microstructure of the material. In order to assess the durability of the improved material, laboratory tests focused on the effects of cyclic variations of the degree of saturation on the water retention properties and the volumetric behaviour of the stabilized clay. Collected results show that the li…
Experimental analysis of the water retention behaviour of shales
2014
Shales are among the most commonly considered geomaterials in current energy-related geomechanical investigations, as they are involved in engineering applications such as the unconventional extraction of natural gas, CO2 sequestration and nuclear waste geological storage. A deep understanding of their behaviour with regard to variations in the degree of saturation is of primary significance for such applications. With the aim to establish a sound protocol for shale retention behaviour analysis, this paper presents an advanced experimental methodology that takes into account the specificities of shales such as small pore size dimensions and the large variations in water potential to be appl…
Shot-clay MX-80 bentonite: An assessment of the hydro-mechanical behaviour
2014
This study presents the results of an experimental study conducted to characterise the hydro-mechanical behaviour of shot-clay MX-80 bentonite. In the shot-clay process, granular bentonite was mixed continuously with water and shot on the walls of a tunnel section at the Grimsel Underground Research Laboratory (URL), in Switzerland. The shot-clay was placed to create a layer of bentonite in direct contact with the host rock to avoid preferential water and/or gas flow along the tunnel wall. Samples for an experimental programme were collected during the shooting. The index properties, microstructural features, swelling potential and water retention properties of the shot-clay were analysed. …
Anisotropic volumetric behaviour of Opalinus clay shale upon suction variation
2016
Opalinus clay shale is under consideration to serve as the host geomaterial for the underground storage of nuclear waste in Switzerland. Water retention behaviour and anisotropic behaviour represent two main features of this geomaterial; however, a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between these two features is still lacking. This paper aims to provide a detailed experimental analysis of the coupling between the water retention capacity and the anisotropic behaviour of two facies (shaly and sandy) of the Opalinus clay shale. The response of the tested geomaterials is characterised by an unequal swelling and shrinkage response in directions parallel and perpendicular to the bed…